Electricity
Electricity is a system and resource in Space Engineers that is used to power most devices. It is created using a large or small reactor, or by using a Solar Panel. It can be stored in a Battery. Any device that has a direct block connection to a reactor will be powered by a reactor; that is, if a reactor is on a ship, all devices attached to that ship should receive power granted there is enough power to receive. Electricity can pass through rotor blocks, pistons, and locked connectors (incl. small-to-large connections), but not landing gear. Most blocks have off switches if you want to save electricity temporarily.
Contents
Reactors
Reactors are the main source of electricity. They are powered by Uranium Ingots. 1 ingot produces 68.76 MWs or 0.0191 MWh of energy. Consumption of Uranium is solely decided by your current energy consumption. There is no difference in efficiency between large and small reactors. It also makes no difference how many reactors you have online.
The maximum amount a reactor can power:
Reactor | Small Ship [KW] | Large Ship [KW] |
---|---|---|
Small Reactor | 100 | 5000 |
Large Reactor | 3500 | 100000 |
Solar Panel | 30* | 120* |
Battery | 1440* | 4000 |
(*) Solar Panels have a maximum output depending on their angle to the sun and the amount of actually lit surface. Given values are the maximum achievable output with perfect conditions.
Conversion table:
1 MW = 1000 KW = 1000000 W 1 W = 0.001 KW = 0.000001 MW
Power Usage
Thruster
Ship | Thruster type | Minimum Power [KW] | Maximum Power [KW] | Inertial Dampeners [KW] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Small | Small | 0.002 | 33.60 | 50.40 |
Small | Large | 0.002 | 400 | 600 |
Large | Small | 0.002 | 56 | 84 |
Large | Large | 0.002 | 672 | 1008 |
Production (Individual Usage)
Machine | Idle [KW] | Operational [KW] |
---|---|---|
Projector | 0.100 | 0.198 |
Arc Furnace | 0.999 | 330 |
Assembler | 0.999 | 560 |
Refinery | 0.999 | 560 |
Weaponry and tools
Device | Small Ship [KW] | Large Ship [KW] |
---|---|---|
Drill | 2 | 2 |
Welder | 2 | 2 |
Grinder | 2 | 2 |
Gatling Turret | N/A | 2 |
Missile Turret | N/A | 2 |
Interior Turret | N/A | 2 |
Reloadable Rocket Launcher | 0.2 | N/A |
Gatling Gun | 0.2 | N/A |
Communication
Device | Small Ship [KW] | Large Ship [KW] |
---|---|---|
Beacon | 0 - 10 | 0 - 10 |
Antenna | 0 - 20 | 0 - 200 |
Laser Antenna | 181** | 577** |
(**) The maximum power usage of laser antenna include both beaming and rotating at once. Beaming alone would be 180 for Small and 576 For large.
Other device power usages
Device | Small Ship [KW] | Large Ship [KW] |
---|---|---|
Gravity Generator | N/A | 0 - 567.13*** |
Spherical Gravity Generator | N/A | 0 - 44800*** |
Artificial Mass | 25 | 600 |
Interior Light | N/A | 0.06 |
Spotlight | 0.200 | 1 |
Medical Room | N/A | 2 |
Door | N/A | 0.031 |
Gyroscope | 0.001 | 0.03 |
Ore Detector | 2 | 2 |
LCD Panel | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Wide LCD Panel | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Button Panel | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Rotor | 0.2 | 2 |
Advanced Rotor | 0.2 | 2 |
Piston | 0.2 | 2 |
Collector | 2 | 2 |
Connector | 0.05 | 5 |
Camera | 0.03 | 0.03 |
sensor | 0 - 30 | 0 - 30 |
Remote Control | 10 | 10 |
Programmable Block | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Sound Block | 0.2 | 0.2 |
(***) The power cost of Gravity Generator is directly proportional to the field size and acceleration (absolute value, so 1G consumes the same as -1G).